A Look at Indian Made Rifles and Guns

India was given freedom from British rule in 1947. Atorigin.
that time the standing army had strength of aboutHowever the weapons and guns manufactured in
400, 000. This was down from a peak of about 2. 5India do not match the quality control of their
million during the second world war. The Indian armycounterparts in the western world. In fact reports
at that time was equipped with the. 303 Enfield rifle.suggest that the Indian made rifle is prone to
This was a bolt action rifle but very versatile andjamming at sub zero temperatures like in the Siachan
efficient. However it was weapon of a bygone age.Glacier where the Indian Army faces the Islmic state
The pacifist policies of Nehru and the servility of theof Pakistan and Ladakh where they are countering
General Staff resulted in the fact that this mainthe Chinese army. The weapon also has a loud
weapon for the infantry soldier was not upgraded fordecibel effect that is not conducive for an infantry
15 long years. When the Chinese army struck acrosssoldier who is into combat. The weapons which are
the northern borders in 1962 the Indian soldiermarketed by the Ordinance factories are also costlier
equipped with the obsolete. 303 was greatlyas compared to their western counterparts. The
handicapped.Indian made rifles are priced at $ 360 cwhich
The end of the India China war saw the dawning ofcompares unfavourably with the continental European
reality on the political leadership which now gave therifles that carry a price tag of about $100.
green signal for the up gradation of the basic rifle forThe standard assault rifle is a semi automatic with a
the infantry soldier. A start was made through thethree round burst. The Indian ordinance factories also
government owned ordinance factories and theychurn out the fully automatic assault rifle often
started manufacturing the latest weapons. Thesereferred to as INSAS Excalibur mark I. The base of
were subsequently made available to the Indian army.this weapon is the AK 74. This weapon is also not of
The ordinance factories presently manufactureany original design and is based on its European
integrated small arms weaponry often referred to ascontemporaries.
INSAS (Indian Small Arms System). This entire familyThe latest models have shown considerable
consists of an assault rifle, a light machine gun and aimprovement in finish and performance. The
carbine. The nodal point for the manufacture ofeffectiveness of the Indian Army has however been
these light arms is at the Indian ordinance factory atgreatly enhanced with the induction of these rifles.
Ishapore in West Bengal.The Special Forces which use the Excalibur have the
The infantry regiments of the Indian Army are nowfully auto and semi auto modes. India is also importing
equipped with this assault rifle. This rifle has nothingrifle from Israel for the Special Forces-the tavor Tar
original about it and is based on the AK 4721.
Kalashnikov. The Indian ordinance factories haveOverall the Indian made assault rifles are just about
however incorporated some changes in theaverage standard. That could be the reason that the
mechanism of the weapon and for this purpose theyIndian made weapons are finding very few buyers in
have relied on the German HK G3 rifle and the FN Fallthe international market. Better quality control may
rifle (Fusil Automatique Leger - Light Automatic Rifle).be the trick to enter the world arms market.
The FN Fall rifle is a very famous weapon of German